| There are several factors that must be taken into | | | | appetizers would be sent to one station, while the |
| consideration when an individual or business owner is | | | | tickets for dessert would be sent to another. Most |
| purchasing a POS system for their restaurant. First | | | | kitchen managers tend to choose impact printers over |
| and foremost, they should decide if their payment | | | | thermal printers because the loud noises they emit |
| system is going to be using integrated credit cards. | | | | when printing alert cooks and chefs that a new order |
| Many individuals choose to purchase a system that | | | | is incoming. In addition, tickets printed upon thermal |
| accommodates this feature, because it allows the | | | | paper can sometimes become unreadable due to |
| business to retain records of financial transactions in | | | | extreme heat. |
| one simple location. With advances in the technology | | | | The final consideration that a restaurant owner will |
| behind high speed Internet access, the use of this type | | | | want to take into consideration is whether or not they |
| of POS system can significantly reduce the amount of | | | | want to have a back office computer. In 99% of these |
| time that it takes the software to process a credit | | | | cases, the answer will be yes. This is due to the fact |
| card payment. If Internet access is not available, a | | | | that a back office computer provides a point from |
| business proprietor can opt to choose a standalone | | | | which a manager can run business reports, conduct |
| terminal for credit card processing. | | | | changes to a menu, adjust time clocks, and check |
| Secondly, the proprietor of the restaurant is going to | | | | inventory levels. However, in most instances, it is not |
| have to consider how many terminals and printers will | | | | necessary for an owner or manager to have a back |
| need to be placed within the kitchen itself. For smaller | | | | office computer unless they have four or more POS |
| establishments, the use of a single printer in the kitchen | | | | terminals located within their business. If there are four |
| will suffice. However, for larger restaurants with | | | | or more terminals in one establishment, it can become |
| multiple stations, there may be a present need to install | | | | too stressful for a single terminal to have the |
| one printer per station. For example, the tickets for | | | | responsibility of running the database each night. |